Brandon Sanderson
Adult Fantasy
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.
Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.
Speak again the ancient oaths:
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.
My Opinion
“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think but to give you questions to think upon.”
(5 / 5) I get it now. Give me all Sanderson’s books!
I’ve read Sanderson before but I was very new to fantasy. Mistborn (while good) was a lot for me. I still had a hard time grasping fantasy elements. I enjoyed it but didn’t see the hype.
Enter Way of Kings. I’ve heard many people gushing over this one, so I bought the audiobook and began listening. Guys, it’s 45.5 hours long and I was entertained the ENTIRE time. THAT is amazing writing.
The characters were the most impressive with backstories and so much to each personality. Few can do that and he was spectacular. I don’t say that lightly! Oh my wow. The betrayal, the loyalty, the selflessness and honor! I couldn’t handle it. And the rest of the book just built it up so it was all the more powerful.
Sanderson is amazing at creating characters you feel you know. There were many POV and while that sounds daunting, it was done well enough for me to “know” the character before moving on. Adequate time was spent on each story (depending on their part in the story) so I was never confused. I couldn’t pick a fav character, they all had such real personalities!
“Does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? …it is the journey that shapes us.”
And one of the best parts? Very little triggers/content. If you know me at all, I’m not big on intimacy or gore etc. This book had just the right amount of details to tell a superb military story without making me “eeeeww.” And no language. None. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the level of writing with none of these details.
So here’s to me getting sucked into the rest of the series which is upwards of 58 hours each book. Because if this is what Sanderson is all about, I’m here for it all. Well done Sanderson. I get it now. Give me all your books!
General content summary: No language, violent creatures, battle and corpses and blood (multiple), killing with weapons (few details), slaves, previous parental deaths, battle with large beast, alcohol, battle with weapons and death and some gore, killing with magic, death and grief, attempted suicide, poisoning and death, prejudice, kissing.
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Look at you getting into the harder fantasy!